Railway-cab signal



J. J. MICHELS.

RAILWAY CAB SIGNAL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1920.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

WW STATES/PATENT.OFFICE-1?:

JOSEPH .LMIcHELs; or s aaonsnyivnw' YORK. Y

' RAILWAY-CAB SIGNAL. 7

To all whom it may concern r .Be it known that I, JOSEPH J. MIoI-IELs, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, "have lnvented new and useful Improvements in,

Railway-Cab Signals, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in ra lway .cab signals adapted to be controlled by switch or semaphoreoperating mechanisms commonlyused on railways, the main object being to provide simple and efiicient means for automatically operating an alarm in the engineers or drivers cab in case an operator has failed to make the necessary adjustment of the switch or semaphore in advance of an approaching train.

In other words, I have sought tomake the operation of the signal or alarm dependent upon the proper adjustment of the semaphore or switch by installing a vertically movable contact member along the track in suitable relation to a semaphore or switch,

an d connecting said member with the open. v ating mechanism for said swltch or; sema'- phore, so that if the switch or semaphore is properly set for the safe passage of an approaching train, the slgnal 1n the cab will not be operated, whileon the other hand if the switch or semaphore has not been properly set or adjusted for the safe passage of a train,-themovable member wlll cause the operation of a signal or alarm in the engineersor drivers cab to warn himot approaching danger intime to permit him to stop the train and avoid accident.

. Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description:

In the drawings, Figure .l is aside elevation, partly in section and partly dlagrammatic of a cab signal and operating means therefor for; a double or multiple track railway'in which the trains generally move in one direction along certain tracks.

Fig. -2 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the upper end of the clrcuit closing plunger. W

Fig. -3 is an enlarged sect onal view taken on line 33, Fig. 1, showing the means for preventing the turning of the plunger.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood I have shown one of the rails.

I Specification of Letters Pam" 1 1 5 1 3 N9 23, 1 2 Application filed June 18, 1920.- S eria1 No. 389,906. I v Q -1+ of a railway track as resting upon shown a signal' andoperatingmechanism therefor adapted. to be. operated by trains mov1ng 1n one dlrection only. I

. The signal or alarm mechanism is mounted in ornpon the engineers or drivers cab and comprises, in this instance, anelectric bell, .3 connected inzanelectrlc circuit -lv to which current is suppliedby a bat ter 7 5- or equivalent electric generator. 9

ouitable means is also provided uponithe frameof the engine or in'one of the cars of the train for opening and closing the bell circuit,- said means'consisting infthis instance of atubular casing '6. secured to saidframe 'by a clamping "collar -7 -'-,an d

adapted tore ceiveavertically movable plunger .8'wh1ch extends some distance below the lowerend of the casing, 6[ and fully described, the upper end of saidplun ger being provided with an electric conduct ;has its lower end provided with a} roller contact member '9f.- for engagement with. an operatmgmember which is installed along the track as will be hereinaftermore ing member lO movable: into and out of engagement with a pa r of tBIIIllIlillS upwardly a sufficient distance to effect the contact, at which time, the plunger will be diverging planes to allow the conical contact i member 1Q to wedge between them and close the circuit when-the plunger is moved locked in its closed position by a sliding pawl 14E-'which. engagesin a notch in'the adjacent side :oftheplung'er, thereby assuring the ring of the bell .until the circuit means and return of the fplungen After the engineer or'drlverhas drawnfiom its locking position by means of a bell crank lev'e1r 'f-16+ which is con nected to a cord 1'T extending 'into'the engineers cab where it may be operated, at i will. i

If desired," an electric register --18- of is again broken by therelease-of the locking been suf- "I any well known construction may be connected in or to the electric circuit 1' to indicate that the signal has been operated,

and also assists in placing the responsi- 5 bility for accident in case the engineer or driver should fail to heed the signal. j The means for operating the plunger 8 as preferably used in connection with .tracks along which the trains move in one 10 direction only consists in this instance of a vertically movable ramp-rail or bar +19- running lengthwise of the track in anor- 'mally inclined'plane and preferably hinged at one end'at 20- to a suitable supporting case or box -2l, which in turn is secured to the upper faces of the adjacent ties 2 between therails. The ramp-rail or bar -19- constitutes a cover for the sup port or box -+21- and inclines upwardly from the pivot -20-, which is located at a point below the upper" surface of the ball of the rail --1-, to a point some distance above said surface, in which position it is normally held by means of a spring -22- 25 within the box --21- and having one end bearing upon the bottom'ot the box, and its other end engaged with the underside-of the bar'l9-. Y The supplemental rail or bar 19 is normally inclined upwardly in the direction of movement of the train so that its free end normally lies in plane above and in the path ofthe lower end of the contact roller -'9-, and, if not'disturbed from its normal position, will liftthe plunger and cause its upper contact member. -lO- to contact with the terminals ll. and thereby close the, circuit through the signal --3 to warn the engineeror driver of approach- 4o'in danger in time to stop the train. it is customary, however, to operate a 'switchor a semaphore from a distant point and in order that the engineers signal may be employed as an additional safeguard against running into an open switch or past vthe semaphore signal, its action is made dependent upon the movement of theswitch or semaphore op ."ating rod, as --23,which,

is connected with onearm ofa bell crank lever Qtthe latter being pivoted to and within the housingsupport 21, and hav ing its other arm connected by'a link -25 to the free end of the supplemental rail --19 so that whenthe rot 23 is op erated to shift the switch to a safe position for the approaching train or when the semaphore indicates safe, it will draw the free end of the supplemental rail 19* down- Wardly outof the path of forwardly moving contact roller 9 through the .tion. 1 i 7 In witness whereof I have hereunto set 1. In an engineers signaling device ior railway cars an upright tube mounted onthe car, a cap on the upper end of the tube, a pair of electric terminals mounted on the cap and projecting into the tube, a. plunger guided in the tube and extending'some distance below the lower end thereof, a roller mounted onl the lower end of the plunger, an electrically operated alarm electrically connected to said terminals, a conducting ring mounted on the upper end of the'plunge'r for contact with the terminals to close the circuit through the alarm when the plunger is elevated, and a ramp-rail along the track movable in to andout of the path said roller for operating said plunger to cause the conducting ring to contact with the terminals when the ramp-rail is ad justed in the path'oi the rolls a 2. In an eng1neers signaling device for railway cars, an upright tube mounted on the car and having its upper end provided with a cap, a pair of electric terminals mounted on the cap andprojecting into the tube in downwardly diverging planes, an electric alarm, electrically connected to said. terminals, a plunger movable'in the tube and having its lowerend projecting some 'distancebelow the lower end thereof, a contact part on the lower end of the plunge a conducting ring on the upper end of the plunger movable into'a'nd out ot contact with sald terminals as the plunger is raised and lowered for closing the circuit through i he alarm when theplunger is raised, and

a ramp-rail along the track for engaging the lower end of the sa d-plunger to bring contact with said terthecontact part on plunger and raising its contact ring into minals, and means for locking an'd releas- 7 ing the plunger in and from its raised posi- .my hand this 15th day of June 1920.

JOSEPH J. 'MIonnLs.

Witnesses:

H. E. CHASE,

Rosn G, CARROLL; 

